Five Years of Canada's Pay Equity Act: Reflections from the Federal Pay Equity Commissioner
Lori Straznicky, Canada's Federal Pay Equity Commissioner
It has now been five years since the federal Pay Equity Act came into force in Canada. While we are still in the early implementation of this new proactive regime, and compliance certainly varies across industries, I am very pleased to share that we are making tangible progress.
Information submitted by employers in 2025 has generated meaningful data, allowing us to identify emerging pay equity trends within and across sectors. Last year, my Office received 643 annual statements representing about 12% of all employers. One fifth of those employers identified pay gaps meaning that close to 16,700 employees in female jobs are receiving wage increases, averaging $3.25 per hour in certain sectors. These positive developments are, however, tempered by the fact that many organizations have still not finalized their pay equity process. You can see more of these trends in the Data Digest below.
One of the most valuable parts of administering the Act has been the direct interactions that my Office and I have had with stakeholders. These conversations highlighted employers’, unions’, and civil society’s strong willingness to engage, with a largely collaborative mindset. Yet compliance is moving at a slower rate than expected.
In these past five years, we have learned that to see an impact in a reasonable timeframe, regulated entities need clear guidance, predictable timelines, and practical tools. My Office has templates, tools and resources to provide such support, and employers are seeking clarity and assistance to understand and meet their obligations. In fact, we saw an upward trend in the number of requests between 2023–24 and 2024–25 and we expect the same for 2025-2026. This is a good indicator of engagement. Together we are working to remove capacity as a structural barrier that prevents women from realizing their rights.
Another example of resources we provide is the free online course, Achieving Pay Equity in Federally Regulated Organizations: Why and How? hosted by Université TÉLUQ, which has been recently updated. I invite you to access the course if you are interested in learning more about how pay equity works in our jurisdiction.
To learn more about my Office’s past activities you can access the 2024-2025 Annual Report “Pay equity compliance: Carving the path forward”. The 2025-2026 Annual Report highlighting our activities during the last fiscal year will be available June 30th.
I want to share one activity here because it was so meaningful to me and that was participating at UN CSW70 in March. It was the first time I was able to attend this pivotal event, and it was energizing. Meeting with so many likeminded women, to learn, to share, and to be challenged was priceless. Thank you to EPIC for the opportunity to deliver closing remarks at your side event that delved into closing the gender pay gap and addressing the legal and structural barriers that continue to hold women back. What I will remember the most from this event is how achieving pay equity is fundamentally tied to access to justice, which in turn requires safe, accessible, and enforceable systems that make rights real in practice for women in all their diversity.
I know that to close the gender wage gap, we need to address the broader social and economic justice pieces that contribute to it. This includes gender discrimination, unpaid caregiving responsibilities, barriers to hiring, promotion and advancement, and gender based violence. These factors do not affect all women equally, and women with diverse intersecting identities often face the widest gaps.
The impact of these overlapping barriers is clear in the data. In 2024, women in Canada earned 87¢ for every $1 earned by men – a wage gap of 13%. This wage gap is even larger for Black, Indigenous, and other racialized women, women with disabilities, trans women, and many others, who all face overlapping discrimination based on gender, race, disability and identity.
Looking ahead, I want to use the research dimension of my mandate to explore what an intersectional approach to pay equity could achieve. To me, this is the next essential step in closing wage gaps and making a difference in the lives of women who have been left furthest behind. I believe strongly in learning across jurisdictions, and I welcome insights from others doing this work. If you have experience, data, or research on addressing intersectional wage disparities, I hope you will reach out and connect with my Office.
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